Primary Floppy disk drive

Advantages: quicker than floppys, holds several hundread MBs of data, easy to carry around
Disadvantages: will need a zip drive, not all computers will have them

...drives have been around for a few years now this price is dropping all the time. If you are wondering what 250MB of data storage will hold then think of a CD (Compact Disk); a zip disk can of 250MB can hold roughly half of what a CD can hold. That is pretty impressive as ZIP disks can be easily placed in a pocket and are not so delicate as CDs, for example CDs can be scratched easily and dust settling on them makes them not work. HOW A ZIP DRIVE WORKS (Briefly) When you insert a Zip disk into the drive, the metal sheild slides to one side to expose a small opening along the leading edge of the plastic case. A metal hub in the cookie is engaged by a motor that spins at 3,000 rpm. This gives the drive a faster access time than a regular floppy turning at 360 rpm. When the disk is fully inserted, the hole in its casing matches up with a hole... Read review

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Advantages: Compact
Disadvantages: Small 1.44MB storage space

...PHONES NEAR FLOPPY DISKS Floppy disks are very expensive with some costing up to 50p or more each. At Uni they cost £1 for ONE. Lets use 20p as an example price per disk and say the standard hard drive is 80GB (which it roughly is now) it would cost £11959.12 to buy 80GB in floppy disks, when you can get an 80GB hard drive for about £40. Consider other alternatives for example, and which will save money in the long run ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 700MB CD-R's. Costs about £10 per pack of 100. 10p per disk. Costs £11.70 for 80GB, but each disk can only be written on once. 700MB CD-RW's. Costs about £10 per pack of 25. 40p per disk. Costs £46.81 for 80GB, but each disk can be written on again and again. 256MB USB Flash Disk. The prices range from £12 - £75 depending on the size... Read review

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Advantages: Reliable, relatively cheap, well-known brand, good build quality
Disadvantages: Small capacity, not as reliable as some other forms of storage, slow

...~~~ Overview & Appearance ~~~ The MPF920 is a fairly unremarkable floppy disk drive produced by Sony to be mounted inside your trusty computer. The drive supports 3.5" diskettes up to a maximum capacity of 1.44MB. Measuring just over 3.5" x 4.5" x 1" (approx) the main body of the unit is composed of steel, with a beige fascia at the front. There is a small slot for inserting your diskette, a button to eject the diskette and a small green LED to indicate whether the drive is being read from or written to by your computer. The rear of the unit features a small 4-pin power connector and also a second set of smaller pins for connecting the drive to your motherboard by means of the supplied (sometimes!) lead. The drive features a selection of small holes along each side so that you can screw it securely into your PC case. Interestingly... Read review

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